By Bunmi Sofola
When Sussie’s son came on his first log vacation from the university a couple of years ago, he came with a handful of friends. In days, they’d eaten Sussie out of home and her stock of lager and liquor had virtually disappeared. But the lad was growing to adulthood, Sussie had reasoned, and needed to be free to entertain his friends in his own home.
So she stocked up with more food, this time of the cheaper variety, and only lager and soft drinks. They were all gone within the twinkling of an eye. That did it! The next time Sussie’s, Ted, rushed to the refrigerator when his friends visited, he met nothing but bottled water. The pot of soup had only two pieces of meat in it. Sussie was in her room, a determined look on her face. “iya ti gboro!”, his son sniggered to his friends. Roughly translated, he’d informed his friends that his mum had gone ballistic!
“When your kids are young”, Sussie said. “They know about treats from the fast food joints and fun fairs at Christmas and Easter. When they reach their teens however, they get a visit from the Teenage Demon. Overnight, they become angry and disobedient strangers. Even before Ted went to the university, he’d become quite rebellious and he was the one who gave us the most trouble out of our three children. He refused to tidy his room and went out as he pleased. The more we punished him, the more he rebelled. His dad always accused me of being a pushover when it came to Ted, but how do you control a son that’s turned into a snarling stranger overnight? He’d towered over his dad and me, so we couldn’t even hit him or order him to go to his room!
